Please note: the seminar on 26th September is almost fully booked up - the final few places will be allocated on a 'first come first served' basis so bookings must be sent in asap to Julitta Clancy (PRO). A waiting list will also be drawn up in case of any cancellations.

Telephone 01 8259438 or email julitta1@hotmail.com

Meath Archaeological and Historical Society

in association with the

Meath Peace Group

Decade of Centenaries Seminar No. 2

Saturday, 26th September 2015

St Columban's College, Dalgan Park,

Navan, Co. Meath: 9.30am - 4.45pm

9.30am Registration

9.45am Welcome

10.00 Session 1. “IRELAND AND THE GREAT WAR”. Chaired by Frances Tallon

If you have illustrations or photos please do not embed
them in the text but send them as separate files. These should be jpgs of
at least 300dpi. If the original photos are in hard copy it is probably best to
post them to us or bring them in to Drogheda Museum Millmount where we can scan
them professionally and return the originals to you.

Please DO NOT SEND ARTICLES IN HARD COPY (i.e., printed out)
as these will only have to be re-typed out again!!

Autumn Lecture by Ray Jordan In the Governor’s House, Millmount On Wednesday 30th September 2015 at 8 pm. Prince Louis Napoleon as First President of the Second Republic and then as Emperor of all of France was the most powerful and popular man in France. In 1856 at the suggestion of his Confessor he had ordered that a set of vestments be made in Paris and delivered to the parish priest of Aughrim to be used in a mass to commemorate the death of General St. Ruth and the French fallen at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. The vestments may now be seen in the Diocesan Museum in Loughrea. He visited Ireland on two occasions, firstly in 1857, when he visited Birr Castle to view the great telescope and later visited Tipperary, Kerry and Cork. He returned in 1860 when it appears his main interest was agricultural. French agriculture at that time was in a very fractured state which often resulted in ‛Famine in a Land of Plenty’. He landed in Kingstown and visited the Albert Model Farm which is now part of U.C.D. He then travelled by train to Ballinasloe to visit the great farm complex of Ganaveen. There he was shown the latest in farm mechanisation and animal husbandry by Alan Pollok it’s then proprietor. It was arguably the most modern farm in Europe, if not in the world at the time. Ray Jordan’s working career was in the engineering branch of Post and Telegraphs, where he experienced many changes in the field of telephony. He has a great interest in aviation and held a flying Instructor Rating for many years. Ray last gave a lecture to the O.D.S. in 2010, when he spoke on Alcock and Brown which was very well received.

We have been requested by the Boyne Valley Honey Company to let you know that a very interesting lecture by Dr Harman Murtagh A Hard Look at the Battle of the Boyne 1690 will be taking place in Donegan's, Monasterboice Inn today, on Friday September 18th at 6.15pm followed by dinner at 7.15pm.

Hear Dr Murtagh bring the battle to life and explain how it changed Irish and European History for ever. The people, the confusion, the uniforms, the mistakes and what really happened.

For bookings call the Monasterboice Inn on 041-9837383 Cst of the lecture plus dinner is €25. Signed copies of Dr Murtaghs book The Battle of the Boyne 1690- A Guide to the Battlefield including a free cd will be on sale on the night.

Hear an expert bring it to life and explain
how it changed Irish and European history forever. The people, the confusion,
the uniforms, the mistakes and what really happened.

The Battle of the Boyne,
which was fought in 1690, is commemorated on both sides of the divide that
stands between Northern Ireland under British Sovereignty and the Southern
Republic of Ireland. This was not a religious battle but a political
one. There was indeed a religious aspect but this only played a minor
role.

Dr Harman is a former senior lecturer
and current Visiting Fellow at Athlone Institute of Technology, he is a
recognised expert on Irish Military History. Dr Murtagh is President of
the Military History Society of Ireland/Irish Commission for Military History
and a Vice President of the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlements.

EXCLUSIVE

SENSATIONAL NEW REVELATIONS ON LIFE OF FENIAN

LEADER JOHN BOYLE O’REILLY

Poet and writer John Boyle O’Reilly from Dowth near Drogheda was one of the most romantic figures in Irish 19th century history. A handsome and charismatic journalist in his youth, he then became a “dashing hussar” in the British Army where he was secretly organising the Irish Republican Brotherhood (popularly known as “The Fenians”) for which he was convicted and transported to Australia. His daring escape from the penal colony in 1869 caused an international sensation and he made his way to the USA where he later became editor of a major Boston newspaper and a highly regarded poet and fighter for human rights.

Historian, writer and broadcaster Ian Kenneally author of the highly-acclaimed biography of John Boyle O’Reilly, “From the Earth A Cry” (2012) and producer of a documentary on O’Reilly’s Life, “The Cry of the Dreamer” (2014), has recently come across hitherto completely unknown primary source material in O’Reilly’s hand which uncovers sensational new details on his experiences in Australia, and makes his life-story even more epic and dramatic.

Ian Kenneally will reveal all exclusively at a Press Conference at Drogheda Museum Millmount on Wed 16th Sept 2015 at 8pm where he will speak on the extraordinary implications of this newly discovered material. He will also launch an exhibition based on the material which he has co-curated with Drogheda Museum and which will run until 11 November 2015. All members of the public are welcome to attend the Press Conference and Exhibition Launch.

One of our most popular exhibits in Millmount Museum is our recreated 19th century Irish Kitchen. Come and enjoy a look at our traditional dresser with its selection of willow pattern plates and other fine crockery and kitchen utensils from times past. There’s an original fireplace with a vast collection of cast iron pots and pans, other fire utensils, as well as a settle bed with its straw mattress, a variety of heavy smoothing irons, and a collection of some of the earliest washing machines.

Our Guides can show you how a one hundred year old vacuum cleaner was manually operated before the electrical age. View our hand-made babies' cradles and high chair from a hundred years ago. Twig brooms or “besoms” for brushing the floor are among some of our treasures from the 19th century.

Next to our kitchen is The Dairy Room which demonstrates the various methods of butter-making, including a specimen of “Bog-Butter”. Young people will be intrigued at how we used to live. This exhibition is a wonderful look back at the Irish way of life before the advent of electricity and supermarkets.